Great Western Mainline
Route Description The Great Western Mainline spans the entire South-Western part of Britain travelling to places such as Cornwall and Devon. However, this route shows us the first 36 miles of the route from Paddington in the East to Reading which is to the west of London. The route is operated by both Great Western Railway (GWR) and DB Cargo. This page will give you all the details needed on the route and DLC! Route History The line was built by the Great Western Railway and engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel as a dual track line using a wider 7 ft (2,134 mm) broad gauge and was opened in stages between 1838 and 1841. The final section, between Chippenham and Bath, was opened on completion of the Box Tunnel in June 1841.5 The alignment was so level and straight it was nicknamed "Brunel's billiard table". It was supplemented with a third rail for dual gauge operation, allowing standard gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) trains to also operate on the route, in stages between 1854 and 1875. Dual gauge was introduced as follows: London to Reading (October 1861), Reading to Didcot (December 1856), Didcot to Swindon (February 1872), Swindon to Thingley Junction, Chippenham (June 1874), Thingley Junction to Bathampton (March 1875), Bathampton to Bristol (June 1874), Bristol station area (May 1854). The broad gauge remained in use until 1892. Evidence of the original broad gauge can still be seen at many places where bridges are a wider than usual, or where tracks are ten feet apart instead of the usual six. The original dual tracks were widened to four in places, mainly in the east half, between 1877 and 1899: Paddington to Southall (October 1877), Southall to West Drayton (November 1878), West Drayton to Slough(June 1879), Slough to east side of Maidenhead Bridge (September 1884), Maidenhead Bridge to Reading (June 1893), Reading station (1899), Reading to Pangbourne (July 1893), Pangbourne to Cholsey and Moulsford (?), Cholsey and Moulsford to Didcot (December 1892); also short sections between Didcot and Swindon, and at Bristol. Following the Slough rail accident in 1900 when five passengers were killed, improved vacuum braking systems were used on locomotives and passenger rolling stock and Automatic Train Control (ATC) was introduced in 1908. Further widenings of the line took place between 1903 and 1910 and more widening work took place between 1931 and 1932. At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the Great Western Railway was taken into government control, as were most major railways in Britain and were reorganised after the war into the "big four" companies, of which the Great Western Railway was one. The railways returned to direct government control during World War II before being nationalised to form British Railways (BR) in 1948. The line speed was upgraded in the 1970s to support the introduction of the InterCity 125 (HST). In 1977 the Parliamentary Select Committee on Nationalised Industries recommended considering electrification of more of Britain's rail network, and by 1979 BR presented a range of options that included electrifying the line from Paddington to Swansea by 2000.8 Under the 1979–90 Conservative governments that succeeded the 1976–79 Labour government, the proposal was not implemented. In August 2008 it was announced that a number of speed limits on the relief lines between Reading and London had been raised, so that 86% of the line could be used at 90 miles per hour (140 km/h). Key Places along the Route Locomotives Wagons/Rolling Stock Tutorials Class 43 Introduction Class 66 Introduction Class 166 Introduction Scenarios Down the Line West World Christmas Closures Aggregate Industries Drag Line __NOEDITSECTION__